Homestead: Andersen Racing race report

Andersen Racing's Guthrie Finishes 10th In Homestead's Firestone Indy Lights Race

HOMESTEAD, Fla., Oct. 3 - Sean Guthrie of Albuquerque, N.M. drove the Andersen Racing No. 4 to a tenth-place finish in the Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka 100 Firestone Indy Lights season finale Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The car promoted Guthrie's sponsor, Car Crafters, as well as the team's marketing partners: Allied Building Products Corp., Wide Open Performance and Infused Calcium Technologies.

Guthrie hasn't competed in a Firestone Indy Lights since he finished 11th in the team's car at Homestead a year ago. That race was won by another Andersen Racing driver, Mario Romancini.

Despite the layoff Guthrie qualified a very competitive ninth in the 17-car field with a time of 57.6587 (185.436 miles per hour) for the 1.5-mile oval.

He lost one spot Adrian Campos Jr. at the start of the race, but he regained ninth working lap two when he passed Philip Major. He set his fastest lap of the race at that point when he was timed in 28.8309 (185.426 mph). That was the fastest lap recorded by any driver during much of the race and it was faster than any lap posted by the winner of the race, Brandon Wagner, although two other drivers eclipsed it in the late stages of the event.

Guthrie got Campos back on lap three to move into eighth, which he held until lap seven when he advanced one more spot by passing Charlie Kimball.

Campos re-passed Guthrie working lap 10 to push him back to eighth place, but Guthrie moved into seventh with 14 laps down when Gustavo Yacaman spun in Turn 4. Dan Clarke hit the wall trying to avoid him, which brought out a full-course caution that lasted from laps 15 through lap 23.

Guthrie re-passed Campos for sixth with 25 laps down, which put him between the polesitter, Pippa Mann, and Daniel Herrington. He remained in sixth until lap 31 when he dropped two spots when both Campos and Herrington got by.

That put him in eighth place, trying to catch Herrington while simultaneously holding off Henry Clarke. Major eventually passed Clarke but Guthrie wasn't able to get around Herrington. Major passed Guthrie on lap 58 instead, which dropped him to ninth place. Dillon Battistini passed him with 61 laps down to push him to tenth, and he was still in that position when the checkered waved on lap 67.

Although the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights season is over, the team will conduct a test at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Fla. at the end of the month for some of its 2010 Star Mazda drivers as well as Conor Daly, who ran with Andersen Racing's Star Mazda team in 2009. On Friday at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga. Andersen Racing won its second Star Mazda team championship in the last three years, underscoring its position as one of the leading development teams in North America.

-source: andersen racing